Old Republic is set to acquire a major insurer of small farm owners and select commercial agricultural operations. The specialty insurer bought Everett Cash Mutual Insurance Co. and affiliated companies for an undisclosed number, following its conversion to a stock company in a sponsored demutualization transaction. “With ECM’s ‘narrow and deep’ expertise in the farm […]
Old Republic to acquire major farm owners insurer Read More »
U.S. homeowners saw their available equity pull back in the third quarter, contributing to an upward creep in the percentage of underwater mortgages, according to a new report. Approximately 2.8% of mortgaged properties in the country were considered seriously underwater during the quarter, maintaining a year-long trend, according to real estate data provider Attom. The
Housing market sees downward creep in home equity levels Read More »
As thousands of borrowers potentially face job interruption resulting from the government shutdown that’s disrupted some loans, the housing finance industry is working to identify the right messaging and resources to keep payments and originations on track. With a Congressional Budget Office report pegging the number of jobs impacted at 750,000, mortgage businesses are offering
How mortgage companies aim to aid borrowers amid shutdown Read More »
Pennymac’s financial services unit built profits as it produced consistent consecutive-quarter loan volume and reduced servicing valuation-related losses in a market with lower rates, but it fell short of some consensus expectations. The $181.5 million in net income recorded under generally-accepted accounting principles topped the previous quarter’s $136.5 million and $69.4 million a year earlier,
Pennymac financial services unit improves profitability Read More »
New York Court of Appeals judges’ responses to recent arguments in a closely-watched Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act case suggest they could take a narrower view of the law’s retroactivity but are less open to broad constitutional challenges to it. Recent questions from the New York judges focused more on case details than the constitutional issues,
Judges’ questions may hint at limits to FAPA’s retroactivity Read More »
A credit reporting agency on Monday morning responded to an industry proposal to look into ending the tri-merge with a study finding it even more harmful to borrowers than a two-score pull. Although an earlier Standard & Poor’s study found a bi-merge alternative to the status quo in the mortgage industry could be viable, TransUnion
TransUnion study pushes back on single-score concept Read More »
Cornerstone Capital Bancorp, a one-time independent mortgage banker that acquired a depository, has agreed to purchase another bank, Peoples Bancorp of Lubbock, Texas. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “With one of the strongest capital positions in our markets and a deep base of low-cost core funding, we are well positioned for meaningful organic
Cornerstone Capital to acquire another Texas bank Read More »
The Supreme Court has declined to review a challenge to retroactive interpretation of a New York law that applies a new statute of limitations to foreclosures. The high court turned down without explanation a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case US Bank National Association, Trustee v. Cassandra Fox, marking the end of
Supreme Court rejects petition on New York foreclosure law Read More »
Amidst a credit score war, Experian has thrown the latest punch. The data and technology company will now offer VantageScore 4.0, a credit scoring model, for free to its mortgage clients in the United States. “Experian is dedicated to fostering a more competitive mortgage landscape, creating a safer and sounder market, and expanding access to
Experian to offer VantageScore 4.0 for free Read More »
Mortgage-related securities could experience performance issues as the White House moves to furlough and potentially cut some staff amid a congressional budget impasse, an analysis by Kroll Bond Rating Agency shows. KBRA’s assessment of Congressional Budget Office, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, private-label securities and credit-risk transfer data finds concentrations exist most notably in
Mortgage risks tied to federal furloughs flagged by KBRA Read More »